Wings select centre Stephen Johnston in 6th round

The Detroit Red Wings used their 6th round pick, the 181st overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, to select 6'1," 175-lb. centre Stephen Johnston. Johnston plays for the OHL's Belleville Bulls, and he posted 9 points in 56 games this past season. He was the 101st-ranked North American skater by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau.

"Stephen is a rugged two-way forward with very good skills. He is a strong skater with an excellent hockey sense."

The NHL's Entry Draft Website pointed to this article from the Belleville Intelligencer's Paul Svoboda:

June 20, Belleville Intelligencer: A little more than a year ago, Belleville Bulls forward Stephen Johnston was playing high school hockey in Guelph. This weekend, he'll probably be chosen in the 2008 NHL draft.

"Yeah, I think about it," said Johnston. "I've come a long way. Everything has happened so fast. It's a lot to handle. But I'm excited about it."

In the final Central Scouting draft rankings, Johnston was rated in the fourth round -- 101st - among North American skaters. Exciting, yes, but perhaps not high enough to prompt him to drive to Ottawa for the draft-day proceedings.

"It has yet to be decided whether I'm going or not," said Johnston, speaking via telephone from his Guelph home Thursday night. "But I have expectations and I am excited."

As of Thursday night, Johnston said he had been contacted by only one prospective NHL team -- the Atlanta Thrashers.

Svoboda noted that Johnston improved his stock significantly during the Bulls' playoff run:

June 21, Belleville Intelligencer: After spending his rookie season in a mainly understudy role with a veteran-laden Bulls team, the 18-year-old Guelph native wasn't expecting to be a go-to guy in the playoffs.

But with star centre Shawn Matthias on the sidelines with tonsillitis, the door opened for Johnston in Belleville's first-round series against the Peterborough Petes and to say the youngster barged over the threshold would be an understatement. Johnston scored three times in five games to surpass his entire regular- season goal total of two. Plus, two of Johnston's goals in the Peterborough series were game-winners. So how is Johnston handling his sudden celebrity status?

"It's kind of cool," he said Thursday at Yardmen Arena as Bulls prepared for an off-ice conditioning session. "It's been really great, especially with the points I've gotten. Coming in, I didn't expect to play much but with Matthias out it's a whole new experience."
...
Johnston had 2-7-9 scoring totals while dressing for 56 games this season, adding a dozen penalty minutes and finishing with a zero plus-minus rating. Aside from the pressure of not screwing up to receive more ice time, Johnston said playing on the fourth line provides first-year players with a certain amount of freedom.

"I'm pretty aggressive and I can get really intense," he said. "When you're playing on the fourth line, you're not expected to go out and score goals so you can just go out there and hit and be energetic and not get scored on."

Johnston was a Red Wings fan before he was drafted, and he sounds like a player who will listen to the Wings' trainers when they tell him to work on his fitness level:

"For sure I need to get bigger and stronger," he said. "I need to work on my shooting and get more confident with the puck. Sometimes in your first year you can get intimidated so you need to get bigger, stronger and faster."

Jim Nill on the NHL Network: He's asked about the Wings' last pick in each round, but Nill says that while it's tough to see the names fly by them, it's fun to be in the back row, and they hope to stay there as it's proof that you had a good season. Nill is asked whether there are any late-round surprises in the works, and he says that it's too tough to tell, because he didn't know whether Datsyuk and Zetterberg would be the players they are, but the Wings are attempting to create the right environment for their players, but it's up to the players to work hard to develop into NHL players.

Nill says with no transfer agreement, they've done more homework as they are still under the impression that you only hold their rights for two years, so there are a lot of high schoolers and college kids who are picked in the later rounds.

In my opinion, there's no doubt that the Wings spotted Johnston while watching Jan Mursak play with Matthias on the Bulls.
He did express hope that the Wings would find a late-round gem, suggesting that they've had a lot of luck with players like Logan Pyett and Darren Helm, so he hopes that his scouts have done their homework.